bindle

{{Short description|Sack stereotypically used by hobos}}

{{Refimprove|date=August 2007}}

{{this|the device used by hobos|the Alfie Bass film|Bindle (One of Them Days)}}

File:Hobos2.jpgs walking along railroad tracks after being put off a train. One is carrying a bindle.]]

A bindle is the bag, sack, or carrying device stereotypically used by the American sub-culture of hobos.{{cite web |title=bindle |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bindle_n2?tab=factsheet#20535782 |website=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=28 June 2024}} The bindle is colloquially known as the blanket stick, particularly within the Northeastern hobo community. They are also heavily associated with the Great Depression.

A hobo who carried a bindle was known as a bindlestiff. According to James Blish in his novel A Life for the Stars, a bindlestiff was specifically a hobo who had stolen another hobo's bindle, from the colloquium stiff, as in steal.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In modern popular culture the bindle is portrayed as a stick with cloth or a blanket tied around one end for carrying items, with the entire array being carried over the shoulder. This transferred force to the shoulder, which allowed a longer-lasting and comfortable grip, especially with larger heavier loads. Particularly in cartoons, the bindles' sacks usually have a polka-dot or bandanna design. However, in actual use the bindle can take many forms.

One example of the stick-type bindle can be seen in the illustration entitled The Runaway created by Norman Rockwell for the cover of the September 20, 1958, edition of The Saturday Evening Post.{{cite web |title=The Runaway (1958) by Norman Rockwell |url=http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rockwell/rockwell_runaway.jpg.html |access-date=May 30, 2023 |publisher=Artchive}}

Though bindles are virtually gone, they are still widely seen in popular culture as a prevalent anachronism.

The term bindle may be an alteration of the term "bundle" or similarly descend from the German word Bündel, meaning something wrapped up in a blanket and bound by cord for carrying (cf. originally Middle Dutch bundel), or have arisen as a portmanteau of bind and spindle.{{cite web |title=Bindle Definition & Meaning |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bindle |access-date=May 30, 2023 |website=Merriam-Webster}} It may also be from the Scottish dialectal bindle "cord or rope to bind things".{{cite web |title=Bindle Etymology |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=bindle |access-date=July 21, 2023 |website=Online Etymology Dictionary}}

Bindle is also a term used in forensics. It is the name for a piece of paper folded into an envelope or packet to hold trace evidence: hairs, fibers or powders.{{Citation |title=Evidence Packaging: A How-To Guide |date= |url=https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cci/reference/evidence_collection.pdf |pages=32 |year= |access-date=May 30, 2023 |publisher=California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services}} Similarly, bindle is sometimes used to describe a small package of powdered drugs.